A coroner has ruled a four-year-old boy died at an Auckland childcare centre while he was playing with a toy stilt.
Stock image. Photo: Unsplash / Thierry Lemaitre
Aldrich Viju was found unconscious on a slide at Angels Childcare Centre in Takapuna in November 2016.
In her findings, Coroner Sarn Herdson said the boy had been seen with a plastic stilt, which had a long cord, over his shoulder.
At some stage, it appeared he climbed on to a plastic slide and the cord got caught around his neck and chest.
Herdson said no one saw what happened.
The length of time between Aldrich last being seen alive and when he was found unconscious by another child, who told an adult, was not known.
The time he was on the slide and when he became caught is also unknown.
However, he had been at the centre less than an hour before emergency services were called.
Herdson recommended a WorkSafe safety alert about strangulation hazards on playground equipment be republished and people be alerted to it.